Third lamentation
1I am a man who has known calamity from the rod of his wrath;
2he has driven and brought me
into darkness, not into the light.
3He turns his hand against me alone,
all the day long, again and again.
4He has worn away my flesh and skin;
he has broken all my bones.
5He assails me and surrounds me
with tribulation and bitterness.
6He leaves me to dwell in darkness,
like those who have long been dead.
7He has walled me in without escape;
he has weighed me down with chains.
8I could not even cry for help,
for he has stopped my prayer.
9He bars my way with stones
and left me helplessly alone.
10Like a bear lying in ambush,
like a lion waiting for its prey,
11he lunged at me, tore me to pieces,
and left me alone and helpless.
12Then he drew his bow
and aimed his arrow at me.
13He pierced my sides
with arrows from his quiver.
14I have become a laughingstock,
a topic of songs for all the peoples.
15He has sated me with bitter food;
he has made me drunk with wormwood.
16He has broken my teeth with gravel
and thrown me down in the ashes.
17He has deprived my soul of peace,
till I have forgotten happiness.
18Now I say, “Gone are my hopes
and all my confidence in the Lord.”
19Recalling my affliction and homelessness is wormwood and gall.
20Thinking it over and over
makes my soul downcast.
21But this, when I ponder,
is what gives me hope:
22Yahweh’s love abides unceasingly.
His compassion is never consumed;
23every morning it is renewed.
And his love remains ever faithful.
24“My portion is Yahweh,” says my soul.
“On him shall I rely.”
25Yahweh is good to those who hope in him,
to souls who search for him.
26It is rewarding to wait in silence
for the Lord’s salvation.
27It is good for man to bear the yoke
from his youth.
28Let him sit alone in silence
when Yahweh fastens the yoke on him.
29Let him put his lips to the dust
there may still be hope.
30Let him offer his cheek to be struck;
let him be overwhelmed with insult.
31For it is not forever
that the Lord rejects man.
32In the abundance of his love
he punishes, but has compassion.
33For he does not willingly abase
or afflict the human race.
34To trample underfoot
the prisoners of the land,
35to deny a man his rights
in the presence of the Most High,
36to deprive people of justice –
the Lord does not approve of this.
37Who can command and execute
what the Lord has not willed?
38From the mouth of the Most High
come all things, good or bad.
39Why should then mortals complain
when punished for their sin?
40Let us search and examine our ways
and return to the Lord.
41Let us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven, and say:
42“We have sinned and rebelled,
and you have not forgiven us.
43Clothed in anger you have pursued us without mercy.
44You have wrapped yourself in clouds
so that no prayer can reach you.
45You have reduced us to dust
and refuse among the nations.
46Our foes have opened wide
their mouths against us.
47Terror is our lot:
pitfall, ruin and desolation.
48Great is my grief over the downfall
of the daughter of my people.
49No respite, no relief,
as my tears flow ceaselessly,
50till the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.
51My soul will grieve in torment
for the women of my city.
52Like a bird I have been hunted
by my foes without cause.
53They flung me alive into a pit
and cast stones at me.
54As the waters closed over my head,
I thought I would never again live.
55Out of the depths I called
on your name, O Yahweh.
56You heard; you have not been deaf
to my cry for relief.
57When I called, you even came near
and told me not to fear.
58O Lord, you took up my case
and redeemed my life.
59You have seen the wrong they did me,
uphold my cause!
60You have seen how resentfully
they plotted to destroy my life.
61O Yahweh, you have heard the insults
hurled at me, their insidious plots;
62You have been aware of their thoughts,
their muttering against me all day long.
63Look at them – sitting or standing –
mocking me in their song!
64Repay them as they deserve,
according to their deeds, O Yahweh.
65Harden their hearts;
hold them under your curse.
66Pursue and destroy them in fury
from under the heavens, O Yahweh.
